Analyzing and refuting the inaccuracies lodged against the lgbt community by religious conservative organizations. Lies in the name of God are still lies.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Family Research Council praises supporter of anti-gay persecution while ignoring its victims

Franklin Graham

This week, Franklin Graham, the son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, made some controversially negative comments, particularly about the lgbt community.

And as it is when folks make controversially negative comments about lgbts, they are always quick to claim that they are merely following the Bible, even though said comments have nothing to do with what the Scriptures allegedly says about lgbts.

For a vast majority of folks - myself included - Graham crossed a huge line when he attacked same-sex families:

When it was pointed out that homosexual couples can adopt children,
Graham responded: “They can recruit. You can adopt a child into a
marriage, but you can also recruit children into your cause. I believe
in protecting children from exploitation – all exploitations.”

He made these comments while praising Russia's anti-gay laws - laws which have caused persecution against the Russian lgbt community. Franklin claimed these laws protect children from "gay propaganda

Franklin Graham also addressed for the first time his latest venture
into controversy: his praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin for
his record on protecting children from gay “propaganda” – a record,
Graham wrote in a March magazine article, that is better than Obama’s
“shameful” embrace of gay rights.

However, don't tell any of this to the Family Research Council. In a recent posting, FRC praised Franklin for his comments about lgbts, while NOT not telling their readers about what he actually said:

On Tuesday, in an interview with the Charlotte Observer, Franklin explained that he owed his fighting spirit to his dad, Billy."You talk about controversy -- my father stood with Martin Luther
King in the early 1960s. My father never worried about polls. I don't
care about them, either. And with the issues we are facing today -- if
my father were a younger man, he would be addressing and speaking out in
the exact same way I'm speaking out on them." And that includes one of
the biggest cultural flashpoints of our generation -- homosexuality. "I
love people enough and care enough to warn them... that if they choose
to continue to live in sin, God is going to judge them one day..."

FRC linked to the original interview, so surely it's not a mistake that the organization conveniently didn't go into detail about what Franklin said about same-sex families or his praise of laws which have made Russian lgbts feel like hunted animals in their own country.

A victim of Russia's anti-gay laws praised by Franklin Graham. In praising Graham for supporting these laws, the Family Research Council omitted mention of these victims.

I'm not surprised by FRC lack of candor in regards to Franklin's attack on same-sex families and his support of anti-lgbt persecution in Russia. When the Southern Poverty Law Center called out the organization for its constant pushing of false claims about the lgbt community, FRC whined and cried about being persecuted while cleverly dodging the specific issues which led SPLC to call them a hate group.

Tony Perkins, FRC's president, even claimed that SPLC was attacking them because of an anti-Christian bias. It's safe to say that the praise he and his group just heaped on Graham dispels that notion.

The Family Research Council is not a Christian group. I've never heard of any Christian group who praises someone for supporting persecution while going out of their way to erase any mention of the victims of that persecution from the conversation.

Tony and the rest of you lovely liars at the Family Research Council, allow me to let you in on something.

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About Me

Alvin McEwen is 45-year-old African-American gay man who resides in Columbia, SC.
McEwen's blog, Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, and writings have been mentioned by Americablog.com, Goodasyou.org, People for the American Way, PageOneQ.com, The Washington Post, Raw Story, The Advocate, Media Matters for America, Crooksandliars.com, Thinkprogress.org, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, Melissa Harris-Perry, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Blade, and Foxnews.com.
In addition, he is also a past contributor to Pam's House Blend,Justice For All, LGBTQ Nation, and Alternet.org. He is a present contributor to the Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,
He is the 2007 recipient of the Harriet Daniels Hancock Volunteer of the Year Award and the 2010 recipient of the Order of the Pink Palmetto from the SC Pride Movement as well as the 2009 recipient of the Audre Lorde/James Baldwin Civil Rights Activist Award from SC Black Pride. In addition, he is a three-time nominee of the Ed Madden Media Advocacy Award from SC Pride.